First Annual Fort Monroe Forum
Fort Monroe Authority, in partnership with Christopher Newport University, Tidewater Community College and Hampton University is proud to present the Fort Monroe Forum. On October 23, 2027, at Fort Monroe, this conference will explore the history and landscape of this unique space, featuring the work of researchers and artists from across the Hampton Roads region.
The 565 acres that today encompass the Fort Monroe National Monument are site of an extraordinary story that has been unfolding for centuries. The Kikotan Indigenous occupied Tsenacommacah before the arrival of English colonizers. The first enslaved Africans were brought here to Point Comfort in 1619. Those escaping the institution of slavery sought their freedom at the fort during the Civil War. The fort remained a bastion of national defense until 2011, when it became a national monument.
Today, Fort Monroe is reimagining ways to tell its story to the people of Hampton Roads and to visitors from around the world. This day-long conference, the first of its kind, will gather together the best minds from regional universities and local arts community to help bring this story alive. If the opportunity to be a part of this conversation interests you as a scholar or as an artist, check out our Call for Papers or our Call for Art.
Exploring
Fort Monroe and
Its Archives
Scholars and artists looking for inspiration are warmly invited to make their way over to Fort Monroe to explore the space along with its Collections, which holds hundreds of thousands of cultural history artifacts, photographs, postcards, maps, architectural items, and works of art from the area’s more than 400 years of documented history. The Collection’s hidden treasures hold clues to a vast array of research and creative projects just waiting to be developed and presented to the broader public. A few ideas to explore:
The migratory patterns of gull-billed terns and the other 88 species of birds that call Fort Monroe home for at least part of every year.
Records of the area’s maritime history dating all the way back to its settlement as “Point Comfort” by English colonists in 1607.
Earliest days of North American slavery, as well as from the construction of Fort Monroe by enslaved labor in the 1820s.
The legendary life of Keeney Chapman, the African American Steward of the Officers Club for more than 40 years.
Technological advancements in seacoast defense developed at Fort Monroe, including U.S. Army Mine Planter Service and the Warrant Officer Corps.
The Fort’s 188-year history as an army post; examining the Collection’s records on the Fort’s role in coastal defense during several wars and on the operations of Officer Clubs and the Women’s Army Corps.
Point Comfort as the site for the beginnings of the institution of slavery and Fort Monroe as the beginnings to the end through self-emancipators and their designation as “contraband of war”.
The eleven distinct architectural styles that mark the Fort’s infrastructure, along with the design of its moat and the ghosts of buildings no longer around.
The Fort’s 188-year history as an army post; examining the Collection’s records on the Fort’s role in coastal defense during several wars and on the operations of Officer Clubs and the Women’s Army Corps.
The impact of climate change and military construction on the landscape.
Hundreds of significant historical figures who interacted with the space such as Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, and Gen. Benjamin Butler.
Call For Papers
Students and faculty researchers are invited to submit a proposal for a paper to be presented at the Fort Monroe Forumthat will explore the history and landscape of this unique space. Proposals are welcome from every discipline – indigenous studies, military history, Black American history, sociology, anthropology, environmental science, horticulture, and ornithology, just to name a few. The research papers selected will be presented in panels on the day of the conference. Fort Monroe is free and open to the public, but interested scholars are also invited to explore the Fort’s Collections, a vast archive of photographs, maps, and other artifacts that might serve as inspiration and as a data resource for the research itself. Undergraduate and graduate students elected for presentation will receive a $200 honorarium. Faculty researchers are encouraged to include students in the preparation of their projects. Indeed, this conference offers an ideal opportunity for faculty to develop courses or independent study projects for students to engage in long-term research.
Proposals should run between 300 and 500 words, and include a prospective title of the project, along with a description of the inquiry and its methodology. Proposals should be submitted to forum@fortmonroe.org by December 4th, 2026. Queries about the conference, the Collections, or the use of Fort Monroe for field research should also be directed to forum@fortmonroe.org.
Call For Art
Artists eighteen years and older from the Hampton Roads region are invited to submit creative visual work to exhibit at the Fort Monroe Forum that will explore the history and landscape of this unique space. The work could represent artists’ reflections on the Fort’s role in North American history – a role that predates English settlement by several centuries, but which also intersects with key events in the history of the United States – or on the space itself and its unique ecological footprint. Fort Monroe is free and open to the public, but interested artists are also invited to explore the Fort’s Archives, a vast collection of photographs, maps, and other artifacts that might serve as inspiration.
Two-dimensional pieces must not exceed 5’ x 5’; three-dimensional pieces must not exceed 5’ x 5’ x 5’. Selected artwork will be on view to the public at the conference. Participating artists will be included in all of the conference’s activities, including the meals for the conferees, and will receive a $200 honorarium. Their work will then appear in the Fort Monroe Forum Special Exhibit, which will run through the Spring of 2028.
To submit artwork, please send an email to forum@fortmonroe.org with the subject line “Fort Monroe Artwork Submission.” Include a jpg image (5 MB max per image) and description of each work (title, artist name, dimensions, media, year) by March 5th, 2027. Please use this format to name each image file: “Title_Last name.jpg.” Any questions can also be directed to the same email address.
Queries about the conference should be directed to
Benjamin Lynerd at Christopher Newport University, benjamin.lynerd@cnu.edu
Timeline from Submission to Completion
Call for Work Opens
Call for Papers Close
Paper Proposal Selection
Call for Artwork Close
Art Selection Notification
Final Art Submission
Final Paper Submission
Fort Monroe Forum
August 20th, 2026
December 4th, 2026
January 15th, 2027
March 5th, 2027
April 2nd, 2027
September 17th, 2027
October 1st, 2027
October 23rd, 2027